Drive for magnetic tape



Dec. 29, 1953 BERLANT 2,664,251

DRIVE FOR MAGNETIC TAPE Filed Nov. 19, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet l EMMANUEL BERLA/VT,

INVENTOR.

A TTORNEK E. BERLANT 2,664,251

DRIVE FOR MAGNETIC TAPE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 29, 1953 Filed Nov. 19, 1948 EMMANUEL BERLANZ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 29, 1953 BERLANT 2,664,251

DRIVE FOR MAGNETIC TAPE Filed Nov. 19, 1948 s Sheets-Sheef 5 4/ I of:

EMMANUEL BERLAN 7: IN VEN TOR.

177 A TTORNEK Patented Dec. 29, 1953 UITD ATENT QEHCE DRIVE FOR MAGNETIC TAPE Emmanuel Berlant, Culver City, Calif., assignor to Berlant Associates, Los Angeles, Calif., a

partnership Claims.

The invention relates to a drive for magnetic tape employed for recording or reproducing sound, particularly in a dictaphone type of machine.

'An object of the invention is to simplify and improve the drive employed for reeling or unreeling the tape.

The invention particularly relates to magnetic paper tape and for a dictaphone type of machine employing this medium; it has heretofore been proposed to employ several motors in order to drive the supply and take-up reels at a comparatively low speed for recording purposes or at a high speed for rewinding purposes.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved drive making it possible to employ a single motor for driving the supply and take-up reels under high or low speed conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved, compact chassis mount for the drive.

A further object is to provide an improved mount for the motor for varying its driving relation with its driven element.

A further object is to provide an improved clutch device for propelling the tape or for stop- Ill ping it without overrunning, while the motor remains in operation.

The invention provides an improved drive wherein the motor, reel, spindles as well as the drive and controls therefor are all mounted on a chassis which is suspended from the underside of the top of a casing, the casing having provisions for the supply and take-up reels and various controls for the equipment.

For further details of the invention reference may be made to the drawings wherein Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a dictaphone type of machine having the drive for magnetic tape according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the machine of Fig. l with the combined microphone and soft speaker removed.

Fig. 3 is a front view in elevation of a machine of Fig. l with the combined microphone and soft speaker removed.

Fig. i is a perspective view of a foot switch and microphone control.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan View of the top of the chassis, with the casing removed.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on line 66 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line l'I of Fig. 6 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the rewind control detached from associated apparatus and partly insection.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a portion of the tape drive control with parts broken away.

Fig. 10 is a schematic circuit of the microphone switch. control.

Fig. 11 is a schematic circuit of the foot switch control.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the drive for magnetic paper tape according to the present invention is illustrated as applied to a dictaphone type of machine I having a casing 2. The top 3 of casing 2 has a depressed top 30 from which upwardly project the spindles 4 and 5 for the supply reel 6 and take-up reel I, respectively. Between the reels 6 and I is a head 3 for recording sound onto or reproducing it from the magnetic paper tape 9. Head 8 has a magnetic recorder I01, an eraser I08. The tape on leaving the supply reel 6 passes around the front of a smooth drive spindle I8 across the rear of a guide post I05, see Fig. .2, then through the head 8, across the rear of a guide post lEl-E, and around the front of the smooth drive spindle II to the take-up reel I.

The casing 2 has a recess I2 in which is slidably mounted a knob I3 operable to drive either reel 6 or I at high speed for re-Wind purposes.

The front of the casing 2 has a recessed panel I4 having a switch I 5 to connect an amplifier indicated at It in Fig. 7 for recording or reproduction as shown by the indicator lit. The panel [4 also has a volume control switch IT.

The details of the amplifier I6 and its circuit controlled by selector switch I5 and volume switch N form no part of the present invention.

The casing 2 has an electrical socket 20 for a plug 2! connected to a combined microphone and speaker 22 having a switch 23. While it is old to use a switch like 23 on the element 22, the thing which is controlled by switch 23 is a part of the present invention and will be described later.

The socket 20 is also adapted to receive a plug 24 connected to a socket 25 and to a foot control switch 26. Socket 25 is adapted to receive a plug I8 to which an earphone I9 is connected.

As shown more particularly in Figs. 6 and 7, the casing 2 has an open bottom 21 with downwardly and outwardly sloping sides 28. Mounted inside of the casing 2 and suspended therefrom by four screws 3|, 32, 33, 34, see Fig. 5, is a chassis 36 in the form of a generally horizontal plate having a raised portion 31 across its front. All of the elements of the drive are mounted on the chassis 36 and the casing 2 can be removed from it by removing the screws 3| and 34.

As shown in Fig. 7, the chassis 3t, 31 is suspended by the screws 3! to 34 in spaced relation from and below the top 3 of the casing. For this purpose, the screws SE to 34 have suitable spacers, one'of which is indicated at [89 in Fig. 7, or such spacers may be in the form of elongated bosses cast integral with the under side of the casing top 3.

The drive employs a single motor indicated at iil in Fig. 5 and shown by the octagonal broken line so in Fig. 5. The motor iii has a drive shaft ll which extends vertically and provided with a friction pulley it which projects through a hole 3 in the chassis (it, the motor to itself being arranged below the chassis 36 and suspended therefrom by three screws M, d5, 45. As will appear from Fig. 6, screw 26 passes through an enlarged opening lid in the chassis 3B and around it is an upper rubber washer All on top of chassis 38 and a lower rubber sleeve 48 between the top of the motor all and the under side of chassis 35. Screw as is screwed down to clamp the upper rubber washer l? between washer i9 and the chassis 36 and to clamp the lower sleeve ll between the motor to and the chassis 36, thereby providing a cushion mount for the motor 56 which is capable of lateral movement as the other bolts Al i, G5 are similarly arranged, and each hole like i 5 for the bolts it to $6 is large. than such bolts. This makes it possible to laterally shift the pulley t2 and adjust its frictional contact with a friction band 59 on a flywheel The pulley 32 may be thus laterally adjusted by means of a lever 52 pivotally supported on the chassis 35 as indicated at 53, lever e2 bearing at its intermediate portion on the washer 5t for screw 35. The outer end of lever 52 is held in adjusted position by a screw 55 having a cooperating slot 53 in the lever 52.

The friction surface St on the flywheel 5! is in driving engagement as indicated at fill in Fig. 5, with the edge of flywheel 65 which is of the same size as the flywheel 5|. The flywheels 5i and 5! therefore are rotated in opposite directions by pulley d2. Flywheels 5!, ill and pulley 42 have parallel vertical axes.

As shown in Fig. 6, flywheel 5! is mounted in a ball bearing 62 having an inner race 63 connected with the downwardly extending hub extension 56 of the flywheel 5|. The ball bearing 62 has an outer race 65 having a split ring 5% which is clamped to the under side of the chassis 35 by suitable clamps 61.

The flywheel 8i similarly has a downwardly extending hub l2 mounted in a ball bearing l3 mounted in the chassis 36.

The flywheel 5! has an upper hub 89 serving as a pulley and having a belt 8| which passes around a pulley 32. As shown in Fig. 7, pulley 82 is at the base of the dead end hollow spindle H which drives the tape 9 at certain times. Spindle ll is rotatably supported on a ball 83 and post 35, the latter arising from the elevated chassis portion 3? and being secured thereto by a screw 85.

The tape spindle I l rotates in the same direction as the flywheel 5!, for example, in a clockwise direction as shown by the arrows in Fig. 5, while the tape spindle H3 and flywheel 6| rotate in the opposite direction. Tape spindle I is supported and driven in a manner similar to that above described for spindleil, being driven by a belt 8% around the pulley 3'1 on the upper hub I81 of the flywheel 6i.

As shown in Fig. 7, the hub 54, 80, of flywheel is hollow, providing a bearing support for the reel spindle 5. Spindle 5 has a collar 90 fixed thereto, this collar resting by gravity on a felt disk 31 suitably secured to the top of the hub til. The collar $9 has a pin 52 at a comparatix ely great distance from the spindle to r or the other of the notches t", see L the reel ii when it is turned over and placed on a spindle 5, while a similar collar see Fig. 5, on the spindle s has a pin comparatively close to the spindle to receive a notch 3'5, se 2, when the reel i is turned over and spindle 5, thereby insuring that at the recording, with reel E empty and reel l full, reel 1 will have to be turned over to fit on f thereby insuring that the recording will be applied to the fresh half of the tape.

A similar friction drive for reel '5 as spindle c is journaled in the hub l" pulley 6!. Also spindle i has a collar i rests on a friction felt disk its secured to top of the hub 3?.

Assuming that reels like ii and I are in position on the machine with tape 9 threaded as shown in Fig. 2, with motor running, the flywheels 5i and Si and the spindles ill and will rotate in opposite directions, but the tape will remain stationary for the reason that the tendency of the hub of flywheel Si is to rotate its reel l in one direction through the slipping friction coupling 539, which is equal and opposite to the tendency of flywheel 5i to rotate its reel 6 through slipping friction coupling 95, its in the opposite direction. his keeps the tape 9 taut in the head 8 and prevents it from overrunning when the moving tape is stopped. The force exerted by the slipping or dragging friction coupling just described on the tape is, of course, less than the strength of the tape.

In order to propel the tape from either reel s or "i to the other, at a slow speed for recording purposes and at a high speed for rewind, the following arrangement is provided.

Slow speed-The tape it is propelled at slow speed from reel 6 to reel l by operating the idler pulley ill see Figs. 5 and 9, to press the tape into drive engagement with the tape spindle H, assuming motor ii; is running. The rotative effort of reel 1, plus the rotative effort of the spindle I i when acted on by the pulley iii of course overcomes the drag of the friction Hie on the other reel 6. Pulley lid is at one end of a lever i i l, the other end thereof being pivot-ally supported on the elevated chassis portion 3?, as indicated at H2. Secured to an intermediate portion of the arm iii, as indicated at lit is a rod ll l which extends above the flywheel 5i to the rear of the chassis 36 and terminating in a screw H5 fitting in a socket H5 secured to the upper end i ll of a vertical arm extension 5 it on the horizontal armature iii) of a magnet or solenoid 26. Armature H9 is pivotally supported as indicated at E2: and the extension H8 passes through an aperture i22 in the chassis 35. The coupling H5, H6 makes it possible to adjust the effective length of the rod Us and, hence, the position of the pulley liil. The magnet (25 is suspended from the under side of chassis 35 by a screw I23. The armature lie is urged to idle position, with pulley lit also idle, by a spring I24 connected at one end 225 to chassis 3S and connected at the other end 528 to the extension Ill.

Magnet i2!) may be operated by microphone switch 23 over an obvious circuit shown in Fig. 10. The cord for connection to a power supply is shown at E2? in Fig. 2. The amplifier 56 shown in Fig. 7 and associated rectifier 128 are suitably supported from the vertical arm I29 of an angle bracket having a horizontal portion I36 suspended from chassis portion 31 by screws and spacers as indicated at I3I in Fi '1.

As shown in Fig. 11, the magnet I26 may be operated by the pedal I32 of the foot switch 26 shown in Fig. 4.

For slow speed drive of the tape in the opposite direction from reel 1 to reel 6, th idler pulley I46 is similarly operated by a magnet I4I to press the tape 9 into driving engagement with the spindle III. The mechanical connection between the magnet IM and the pulley I4!) is the same as described for pulley III]. Magnet I4I, as shown in Fig. 11, may be operated by the foot pedal I42 of the foot switch 26, see also Fig. 4.

High speed-As shown in Fig. 6, both of the reel spindles 4 and 5 are slidably supported in their respective flywheels 6! and 5I and either of them may be raised slightly to disengage them from their respective friction pads I66 and III, to directly connect them to their respective flywheels as follows. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, fixed to th lower end of hub 64 is friction disk I559 having a cooperating clutch plate I5I fixed to spindle 5. Similarly, fixed to the lower end of hub 12 is a friction disk I52 having a cooperating clutch plate I53 fixed to the lower end of spindle 4. Raising either one of the spindles 4 or 5 will disengage it from its respective felt pad I66 or BI and directly couple it to its respective flywheel 6| or 5| through the clutch just described.

The spindles 4 and 5 are raised one at a time for this purpose by operating the sliding knob I3. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 8, knob I3 is slidably supported on t n of the bottom :54 of a depressed casing portion having end walls I55, I56 to limit the movement of the knob I3.

Below the casing portion I54 is a cross arm I51 supported from knob I3 by a screw I58 which is guided for reciprocating movement by a slot I59 in the casing portion I54. Arm I51 extends along the back of and underneath the top 3 of easing 2 and is an inverted U-channel guided in a channel I66 under the top 3 of the casing as "shown in Fig. '1. Crossarm I51 at its opposite ends has depending arms I6I, I62 which extend into the holes I63, I 4 respectively at one end of the cam levers I 65, I66. As shown in Fig. '1, the lever I65 is suspended in spaced relation below the chassis 36 by a screw and spacer indicated at I61 and lever I66 is similarly supported, the spacer therefor being indicated at I63 in Fig. 8. Lever I65 has a cam I16 having a dwell or horizontal portion HI and an incline or raise I12. When knob I3 is moved to the left as shown in Fig. 8, the cam I16 is moved to the right to cause the incline I12 to act through a ball I13 and raise the spindle 5 to operate the clutch I50, I5I as above described. Arm. I66 has a s milar cam I14 having a horizontal portion I and a raised portion I16. When knob I3 is in its intermediate position, as shown in Fig. 6, both spindles 4 and 5 are in their lower position with their respective clutches I52. I53; I56, I5! open and with ball I13 on the dwell I1! and with a corresponding ball I86 for spindle 4 on the dwell I15. The raise I12 slopes upwardly in a direction to the left while the raise I16 slopes upwardly in a direction to the right and, hence, the knob I3 may be moved in one direction or the other to operate the cams I16, I14 one at a time.

' When the knob I3 is operated to operate one of the reels 6 or 1 at high speed, when again shift-'- ing the knob I3 to intermediate position to lower the previously raised spindle, its corresponding reel immediately stops revolving, without overrunning, due to the friction of the felt pads SI and I 66 which revolve in opposite directions. For the same reason, overrunning is prevented for low speed operation.

Various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of the following claims. For example, th slow speed reverse drive spindle is and associated parts may beomitted, as the reverse travel of the tape from reel 1 to reel 6 maybe efiected at high speed by operating knob I3. Also the high speed forward drive I56, I5I and associated parts may be omitted. Also the wheels 5|, SI do not need to run at exactly the same speed, as they operate on the reels 6, 1, through friction drags 9i, I06 and the main requirement is that the torque of one drag should not be different from the other by an amount sufiicient to cause the reels 6, 1 to rotate when the motor 40 is operating, with pulleys I I6,

I 40 idle.

I claim:

1. A drive comprising a pair of counterrotating wheels arranged edge to edge in driving relation, a motor having a pulley in driving relation with the edge of on of said wheels, a reel spindle coaxial with and journaled in each of said wheels, a frictional drag between each of said wheels and its respective spindle, a drive spindle in a tape path between said wheels, means for driving said drive spindle from one of said wheels, an idler pulley for said drive spindle, and means for operating said idler pulley.

2. A drive for magnetic tape, said drive comprising a wheel, means supporting said wheel for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, said wheel having a hub, a reel spindle slidably and rotatab y mounted in and coaxial with said hub, said hub having an upper end having a friction pad, said spindle having a disk adapted to rest at times on said pad, said hub having a lower end having an upper clutch element thereon, a cooperating lower clutch element on said spindle, said clutch elements being separated when said disk is on said pad, and means for raising said spindle to engage said clutch elements and disengage said disk from said pad.

3. A drive comprising a pair of counterrotating wheels arranged edge to edge in driving relation, a motor having a pulley in driving relation with the edge of one of said wheels, a reel spindle coaxial with and journaled in each of said wheels, a reel on each of said reel spindles, a clutch and drag connection between each of said wheels and its respective reel, a pair of drive spindles in a tape path between said reel spindles, means for driving each of said drive spindles from one of said wheels, an idler pulley for and adjacent each of said drive spindles and shiftably mounted for movement toward and away from its drive spindle with said tape therebetween, and means to selectively shift each of said idler pulleys to effect tape driving engagement with its adjacent drive spindle.

4. A drive according to claim 3 wherein the drag connection of one of the reels is effective in a counterdirection to the movement of the tape to keep the tape taut when the tape is being driven by the other reel.

5. A friction drive for propelling magnetic tape from one reel to another, said drive comprising 7 an axially shiftable spindle for each of said reels, oppositely rotating drive wheels, one for each of said reels and spindles, respectively, a friction clutch and drag connection between each of said wheels and its reel effectiv to cause said reels to remain stationary when said spindles are in operation, with said tape taut between said reels, and means operatively associated with the respective wheel spindles effective to pull th tape in the direction of its associated drive wheel reel and overcome the drag connection of the other wheel and its reel, said clutch and drag connection comprising a clutch having one element connected to one of said spindles and another element connected to its said wheel, said last mentioned wheel having a bearing supporting its spindle for reciprocating movement to one position with said clutch open and its said drag effective and to another position with said clutch closed and said drag ineffective, and means for axially moving said last mentioned spindle.

EMMANUEL BERLANT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 10 1,155,776 Washbui'n Oct. 5, 1915 2,071,192 Younts Feb. 16, 1937 2,304,913 Herzig Dec. 15, 1942 2,365,691 Fodor Dec. 26, 1944 2,369,017 Camras Feb. 6, 1945 15 2,408,320 Kuhlik Sept. 24, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Nur e Country Date 459,035 Great Britain Dec. 31, 1936 

